Christmas Notebook

I’ve been looking over my photos from 2008, trying to decide which ones are my favorites. I thought I’d try to pick one for each month.

January ~ This picture comes from the mission team our church sent to New Orleans, where we spent five days putting up drywall for a sweet woman named Gloria. DH helped on site with construction, and I served as one of two cooks for the team. This picture was of some of the teens’ hands as they played a game. I thought it was a lovely picture of some wonderful helping, serving hands.

February ~ We were privileged to host the wedding party of our friends Melissa and Shawn after their wedding and reception. They came to our home for a time to share some special dances and time together with their family and close friends. I really liked the way the square grand piano in the living room looked with the pretty red candles on it.

March ~ During this month we spent a night at our two older daughters’ home. Our younger daughter wanted to play her sister’s DS. She misses her older sisters a lot! And not just because they have fun electronic toys! ;-D

April ~ With the onset of spring there were myriads of new photo subjects. I especially like the light on the soft white and green of this Star Magnolia blossom.

May ~ My favorite month for the garden is May. The irises are blooming, the entire yard smells heavenly, the weather is perfect for walks around the garden beds.

June ~ Our older son and his family came for a visit. What fun we had! I especially like this picture of the twins. 🙂

July ~ I’ve enjoyed taking pictures for assignments on several flickr groups, including 7 Days of Shooting. This group has a weekly theme and daily assignments within that theme. This shot was for the weekly theme “music” and the daily assignment was “telephoto Tuesday.” Taking part in the assignments for a few flickr groups has upped my photo production and I believe it has improved my photography skills.

August ~ While taking shots for one of my flickr groups, I used this mirror with the hand-carved frame. My youngest daughter began playing with the reflected light and I happened to catch this favorite photo.

September ~ This was shot for the flickr group Macro Mondays. The assignment was “Straight out of the Camera,” meaning no editing of the photo. We were to post it as it was taken. For those of you familiar with flickr.com, this picture made Explore.

October ~ We attended our sons’ wedding and captured this cute picture of our three grandchildren. 🙂

November ~ Another shot for Macro Mondays. I love the color! This one also made Explore.

December ~ We hosted a house concert with Nathan Clark George, Ross Sermons, and Mark Stoffel. This picture reminds me of how much fun we had that evening. We’re planning to host another concert next December.

I couldn’t pick just one for this month. I also love this photo of our youngest daughter as she listens to her dad read Luke 2:1-20 on Christmas morning.

It was hard to pick just one photo for each month (couldn’t do it in December)! But fun to look through them again and relive the year through the photographs. I hadn’t realized, before looking at them today, how much my photo production has increased since I began taking pictures for the flickr groups in which I participate. Photography is a favorite hobby of mine. It’s creative, and fun besides. I hope you’ve enjoyed viewing a few of my favorite photos. Now get out there and take more of your own!

~~Rhonda 🙂